Supportive housing for adults with disabilities, buying the first ever Tri-City teen homeless shelter and the first phase of a Prosser low-income housing complex may receive help from Benton County.
Benton County is in the process of awarding about $1.2 million in grants to eight projects that would provide affordable housing and services to low-income Tri-Citians.
The money come from a $10 increase in county document recording surcharges that the state Legislature approved in 2002 with Substitute House Bill 2060.
The money can be used for buying and remodeling low-income housing, housing programs' operation and maintenance, rental assistance vouchers and emergency shelter, said Ed Thornbrugh, bicounty Department of Human Services administrator.
Benton County commissioners accepted steering committee recommendations last month, but the grants won't be officially awarded until commissioners approve the contracts, Thornbrugh said.
No date has been set for the approval.
Last year, Benton County collected $163,818 for the affordable housing funds, while Franklin County collected $63,851, Thornbrugh said.
Franklin County's current balance is about $300,000.
Benton County has about $1.8 million in the affordable housing account, including the $1.2 million proposed for the various grants, according to county documents.
A $300,000 grant would help Modern Living Services toward its goal of creating the 14-unit Kennewick Perry Suites, a supportive housing complex for disabled adults.
My Friends Place -- the new homeless shelter for teens ages 13 to 17 -- may receive about $38,000 to help with buying the shelter and upgrading its heating and cooling system, said Judy Dirks, Safe Harbor Crisis Nursery co-executive director. My Friends Place is a program of Safe Harbor Crisis Nursery.
The nonprofit now is leasing the shelter from EPIC of Yakima with an option to buy, Dirks said.
At least one teen has slept at the shelter every night since it opened Dec. 1, she said. On one day earlier this week, three teens slept at the shelter, which has enough room to fit 16.
And if the county commissioners approve, $350,000 may go to Genesis Housing for a low-income, housing project on North River Road in Prosser. The proposed Prosser Family Housing Project drew angry crowds in opposition of the project to Prosser City Council meetings.
However, $8.5 million of the $11 million project still needs to be obtained, said Susan Wilson, housing development specialist with the Office of Rural and Farmworker Housing, the developer for the project.
Meanwhile, Kennewick Housing Authority has a tentative award of about $152,000 if it receives the rest of the funding it needs for a housing project for low-income homeless with special needs.
The project would include 13 to 16 units owned and operated by the Kennewick Housing Authority, said Karlene Navarre, the housing authority's executive director. But a location is still needed.
Among the proposed 2012 grants are:
* Nearly $117,000 to Domestic Violence Services of Benton & Franklin Counties to add staff and complete a remodel project.
* About $113,000 to remodel a fire-damaged duplex that the Kennewick Housing Authority plans to turn into transitional housing for domestic violence victims who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.
* $60,000 to Catholic Family & Child Service for a graduated rental assistance program for low income families.
* $30,000 to Therapeutic Innovations and Recovery for a day shelter
* Nearly $24,000 to Lourdes Counseling Center for building rehabilitation and operations of its transitional living program for individuals with a mental illness.
Part of the $1.2 million in county grants is carryover from 2011, and this is the second year Benton County has awarded grants from the HB 2060 dollars.
Franklin County has not approved use of the document recording fees for grants at this point, Thornbrugh said. That could change later this year.
